In the sport of snowboarding, the hand, wrist and forearm of a snowboarder are particularly susceptible to injury. Since snowboarders do not use poles, as do alpine skiers, they often place their hands on the snow as a focal point for executing various maneuvers. As such, their hands, wrists and forearms are subject to impact forces and the like which often result in injury to the snowboarder's hand, fingers, wrist and forearm, such as breakage, sprain, strain, bruising or hyperextension. Additionally, the snowboarder's gloves and jacket sleeves are subjected to excessive wear and tear necessitating frequent repair or replacement of the same.
In the prior art, there is no article suitable for wear by a snowboarder which would protect him or her from the aforementioned injuries or clothing wear. There are some prior art devices which are designed to protect a user's wrist and forearm, such as in the sports of in-line skating, skate boarding and the like; however, there are no prior art devices suitable for protection of a snowboarder's hand, wrist and forearm and clothing. A few of the representative prior art devices are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. D 319,113 by Adams, issued Aug. 13, 1991, for a "Combined Mitten Retainer and Wrist Protector" generally discloses a design for a soft shell wrist gator. However, it does not provide protection to the user's hand and fingers, wrist and forearm against injury.
U.S. Pat. No. D 385,669 by Oetting, issued Oct. 28, 1997, for a "Wrist Protector" generally discloses a design for a rigid, two piece wrist protector. This design does not provide protection for a user's fingers or forearm.
U.S. Pat. No. D 392,072 by Levine, issued Mar. 10, 1998, for a "Snowboard Wrist Protector" generally discloses a design for a wrist protector which is comprised of a soft shell casing with rigid plates therein along dorsal and palmar longitudinal axes of a user's forearm. Likewise, this design does not provide protection for a user's fingers or forearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,667 by Levine, issued May 24,1994, for a "Snowboard Wrist Protector" generally discloses a wrist pad which comprises an elastic body portion defined by an inner and outer surface which is bounded by a plurality of elongated side edges, the body portion having integral means for lending structural rigidity to the entire pad assembly, the structural rigidity means comprising an elongated semi-rigid support member having a profile approximating the wrist-hand junction of a wearer, and a plurality of opposing flaps and straps having alternate faces of hook and loop material respectively, thereby forming a releasable securable structure around the user's wrist. However, this wrist protector does not provide protection for a user's fingers or forearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,531 by Olson et al., issued Jun. 18, 1996, for a "Wrist Guard" generally discloses a wrist guard which has a molded body having its first end configured to contact a user's palm and a second end configured to engage the user's forearm. A thumb receiving member is located at a first side of the palm end of the wrist guard and is designed to prevent overextension of the thumb. The forearm portion stabilizes the wrist guard so it does not rotate. The first strap extends between the thumb covering and the opposing side of the first end of the palm and of the stiff body member. This strap is selectively adjustable to ensure proper fit. A second strap is located at the forearm end of the wrist guard. This strap, like the first strap, is selectively adjustable to ensure proper fit. The user will insert his or her thumb into the thumb receiving member and tighten the straps for securing the wrist guard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,692 by Dorr, issued Jul. 23, 1996, for a "Snowboard Glove with Wrist Protection" generally discloses a snowboard glove which provides protection to the hand and wrist of the wearer, but not to the wearer's forearm. The glove includes a shell having a wrist portion, a palm portion, a back-of-hand portion, a thumb portion and a fingers portion. The glove is provided with a first elongated pouch on the palm portion of the glove and a second elongated pouch on the back-of-hand portion for respectively receiving a palm wrist support plate and a back-of-hand wrist support plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,389 by Li, issued Oct. 22, 1996, for a "Shock Absorbing Wrist Guard" generally discloses a shock-absorbing wrist guard which includes a soft piece including two ear portions, a loop pile area connected, on a portion of the soft piece, an envelope connected to another portion of the soft piece and defining a plurality of slots therein, a mediate portion between the loop pile area and the envelope, an opening defined in the space portion allowing a thumb of a user to, pass therethrough, and a soft strip extended from one side of the loop pile area, and a shock absorbing device received in the envelope for protecting the user's wrist. The shock-absorbing device includes a flat plate, two wings extended from the flat plate, an arcuate portion bridged above a portion of the flat plate which is located between the two wings, thus defining a space between the arcuate portion and the flat plate, a plurality of cushion elements being formed in the space and connected between the arcuate portion and the flat plate portion which is between the arcuate portion and the flat plate portion which is between the two wings for absorbing an external reactive force transmitted through the arcuate portion. However, this device does not provide protection against injury to the user's hand, fingers and forearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,955 by Skewis, issued Aug. 5, 1997, for a "Wrist Protector" generally discloses a hand and wrist protector for skaters which has two rigid formed plates which are securely strapped to the wrist with wide hook and loop straps. A first plate extends from the wrist down to a palm portion with a concave inner surface and a hard abrasion resistant outer surface. A second plate extends from the wrist down to a dorsal hand portion with a convex inner surface which prevents hyperextension of the wrist joint. The inner surfaces are covered with a resilient moisture absorbing surface. The palm portion and dorsal hand portions are free of attachment at their anterior and lateral edges so that the thumb and fingers are unrestrained and perspiration is more readily evaporated. However, this device does not provide protection against injury to the user's hand, fingers and forearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,013 by Hausman, issued Nov. 11, 1997, for a "Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Protective Device" generally discloses a protective device for mitigating the risks and hazards of fractures and injuries to the wrist and forearm that is intended to be utilized by individuals who participate in skating activities or other sports played on hard surfaces. The device has semi-rigid splint members which are fastened above and below the wearer's forearm and extend from the palm area of the hand longitudinally along the forearm toward the elbow. The palm area of the device includes an arched portion of the splint member which defines a space for containing a shock absorber which cushions the impact of a fall, thereby alleviating the extent of injury to the wrist and forearm areas. The palm area also includes a spring for transmitting the force of a fall along the extremity of the forearm splint members land the palmar portion of the protective device. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, splint members which lie along the palmar area of the forearm, slide relative to each other for additional impact and injury mitigation. However, this device does not provide protection against injury to the user's fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,092 by Borzecki et al., issued Mar. 3, 1998, for a "Protective Arm and Wrist Guard" generally discloses a protective guard for use during sports such as snowboarding. It comprises a substantially rigid dipartite sleeve adapted to receive the distal forearm, wrist and proximal portion of a hand; thumb receiving region at one end of the sleeve to receive and partially surround the base of the thumb of a user and retaining straps to hold the sleeve on the arm of a user. However, this device does not provide protection against injury to the user's fingers.
There is a need for a device which can provide protection to the hand, wrist and forearm of a snowboarder and which can prevent excessive wear and tear to a snowboarder's clothing, in particular, gloves and jacket sleeves. The invention is a unitary piece or shell which encloses a hand, wrist and forearm of a user; thus, providing protection against injury, such as breakage, sprain, strain, bruising or hyperextension, to the user's hand, fingers, wrist and forearm and which prevents excessive wear and tear to a users'clothing. The invention may also be used for something to sit on during a rest period of the user.